Eat this: The Canna Kitchen

While others have been dabbling with it, this is the first UK restaurant that will feature food made from a full range of cannabis ingredients, from CBD oil to hemp, as well as the plant’s flavours and fragrances.

How did we get here?

In what could be a high(light) for the UK, the first restaurant themed around cannabis ingredients is opening on December 1, trading under the dope name The Canna Kitchen.

The number of consumers buying items containing the non-psychoactive chemical compound CBD has doubled in the past year, according to the Cannabis Trades Association UK, due to a belief in its relaxing, calming effect and pain-relieving qualities.

It has also been creeping into foodservice as well, with By Chloe’s CBD-infused desserts, CBD-infused yoghurt flavoured with matcha tea from Yogland and Maison Bab’s drink of choice, a Gin and Chronic with CBD oil.

Now, The Canna Kitchen will focus on healthy artisan food made from organic local produce, with menus prepared by Charlotte Kjaer, an experienced vegetarian chef. “I enjoy cooking with the seasons and in harmony with nature. A diet rich in seasonal plant-based food is not only nutritious for the body, but also beneficial for the planet,” she said.

What’s different about it?

The Canna Kitchen is on a mission to change the way people view the cannabis plant and address outdated stereotypes that the herb is purely a recreational substance. As well as CBD, the restaurant will use other legal, non-psychoactive cannabinoids like CBG and CBN, along with naturally occurring flavours and fragrances from the cannabis plant itself.

In addition to The Canna Kitchen, there will be a CBD café and dispensary upstairs called the Hemp Earth Dispensary, which will sell infused cakes and beverages, as well as organic cannabis-based products like CBD oil and hemp flowers. Downstairs in the basement will be a log-cabin-style chill-out lounge with non-alcoholic CBD-infused cocktails.

The Canna Kitchen is founded by Sammy Ben-Rabah, who also owns an online vape business. He said the numerous beneficial properties of the cannabis plant have always inspired him.

“It is one of the most versatile crops in nature, with potential applications in almost every area of our modern life. Cannabis is a true gift, and one that if utilised properly could begin to remedy many of the ecological challenges of our time,” he said. “We are seeking to change misconceptions around this plant by introducing it to people in a form they may not have encountered before.”